Eric Chung, widely known as “Chung Sir”, always impresses the crowd with professionalism and warmth as a sports programme host. Behind the television screen, he had the exact same character as he shared his study and life with lessons and jokes. Having started the Bachelor of Arts in Chinese Humanities at HKMU in 2001, and obtaining the Bachelor's Degree with Honours in 2006, he extended his years of study journey to two Master's Degrees. Despite a short period of teaching after finishing a programme at the then Hong Kong Institute of Education, he admitted, “I'm still eager to educate!” He humbled his position that he would do what he could to cheer up the new generation of students in a down-to-earth and cordial way.
The affection for the Chinese subject has driven Eric into the speech world during secondary school to savour the elegant rhymes of Chinese literature. Gaining years of working experience, he ignited a strong desire for further study, yet with an affirmation, “when it comes to further study, I stick to the things I love, not the ones that are job-tied”. With three consecutive courses at HKMU, his days were hectic and busy, going against his original intent. “It's not the degree that matters. Absorbing knowledge is.”
Further studying at middle age is for leisure, he smiled, “It was plain sailing without ripples”. In another way, he enjoyed studying. He once needed to take care of his wife and was unable to handle the assignments, making him merely meet the threshold for examination, but he refused to brush it off. He postponed the course for a year and a half to completely absorb the details, supplemented by occasional readings at the University Library to maintain the learning.
Enrolling on programmes at HKMU, especially taking philosophy courses, bridged Eric into the ocean of culture, history and philosophy. He completed this realm that was once blank since secondary school, and paved the bedrock for his Master's Degrees in Chinese Language and Literature, and in Philosophy. At the moment, he is not studying any programmes, and said “my study time has passed”. He is open to learning, though, “I like reading. Does reading the books I like count as life-learning?”
Although Eric specified in sports commentary, his heart in education remained heated, saying in his articles, “I quit teaching for years, but I am still eager to teach.” Despite not being at the teaching front, he experienced a whole difference in teacher-student relationships. A suicide tragedy of a teacher in 2019 drove him to collaborate with colleagues for six units of videos. The promotion of these dating stories between teachers and students across various forms was in vain due to social unrest. He then thought of bringing the videos to the schools to promote positive relationships, “at the same time, we let students get the hang of practical skills, such as interviewing, shooting and making news reports, so that they can find their own teacher-student stories.” But with no luck, this thought went nowhere, even if he earned recognition from the Principals. “I was fine that the schools were busy and might have priorities. It's just that I was bummed my wish had not come true.”
As a student, he was grateful to be coached by the teachers, “I was lucky to meet such good teachers who changed me in and out. I missed them so much.” Not teaching for a long time, he did step on stage to share with schools the writing and reading, the teacher-student bond, and careers. In recent years, he explored “Life and Fate” with higher secondary students. “The 'lying flat' mentality is common in the new generation. I want them to reflect on life and not succumb to fate. We walk our own paths.”
What concerned Eric the most was the secondary school education, especially when the Chinese classics and philosophies from the wise were drifting away from the students. He believed that his words might be trivial, but it could plant roots deep into a mind. So he started hosting old Chinese literature introductory session during a morning radio show ten years ago. There was a time when Eric witnessed the frequent modifications of the Chinese subject curriculum, including the temporary cancellation of model Chinese classics. He expressed, “those model Chinese classics were masterpieces from the past, which helped the youth cultivate morality, and at least they had the opportunity to learn. So I wanted to bring those classics to the students through this radio show.” He was honoured and enjoyed sharing ancient and modern stories through this platform to this day, even when he did this for interest.
Having experienced years of development in the Hong Kong sports industry, Eric gladly affirmed the new Bachelor of Business Administration with Honours in Sports and eSports Management offered by HKMU. “It's on the right track and absolutely a good thing HKMU could cater to the social needs and offer appropriate programmes to students. They could definitely benefit from this.”
During the exploration of life directions, students often battled between reality and fantasy. Eric has been diving deep into literature for years, and his voices of experience were truly enlightening. He agreed that interest mattered, but with the premise of catching up with the actual condition. “It's not a problem to read on our own interests, the point is we are in the fundamental stage. We need to complete the foundational curriculum as well as set the goal related to our interests, and to go for it. Once we are able to read on interests, we could be in it.” He advised the new generation with love, “Do make feasible goals and expectations. Do not limit ourselves when life is actually multi-directional.”
